Finding a name
by Alja
Summary: Riza just gave birth to her second child. While the family of four enjoyed the intimate moment of rest in the hospital, Roy reads his subordinates suggestions on the baby's name, helping the parents to decide. Contribution to Royai-week, prompt "Warmth".


**Title:** Finding a name

**Rating:** T

**Summary: **Riza just gave birth to her second child. While the family of four enjoyed the intimate moment of rest in the hospital, Roy reads his subordinates suggestions on the baby's name, helping the parents to decide. Contribution to Royai-week, prompt "Warmth".

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of those characters (not even Roy's children since I still hope someday they'll be real :D). All characters belong to Hiromu Arakawa.

**Please enjoy!**

* * *

The face of the newborn baby was relaxed, long lashes laying against the smooth skin of not-yet round cheeks.  
Right beside his little sister lay Maes Mustang, huddled against his exhausted but smiling mother, deep in his slumber, already playing with his sibling in his dreams.  
Riza Mustang sank deeper into the cushions of the hospital bed, the beads of sweat slowly dabbed away by the crispy white handkerchief her husband wiped against her forehead.  
"Are you alright?", Roy's deep, velvet voice pulled through the drowsiness his wife was encountering right now, her brown eyes, dull with the strain of the birth, slightly opening. Her lips curled into a soft smile. "Yes", she wispered, unwilling to wake the boy to her side or the small girl in her arms. "Who would've thought she was so desperate to meet us that she'd come a month early?" Her eyes wandered to the softly rising and falling frame of the baby girl, slightly regaining their spark. "I guess we'll have to decide on a name now. We've put it off long enough."  
Roy's trademark smirk returned to his face, though it wasn't able to hide the slight frowning creases - the responsibility of being Führer etched those lines into his face permanently.  
"You know? The boys gave me this a couple of months ago", he reached into his coat, withdrawing a blue, elegant envelope which bore the seal of the military, "and told me, I was to open it when we were deciding on a name for the baby. Let's read this first, shall we?"

Riza nodded slightly, her heart soaring. The boys - Roys faithful team that assisted him back on the promised day - felt like family to them. They helped the not-so-young couple with all their needs, taking care of Maes when both had meetings or taking loads of paperwork off their backs when their then only son had an especially terrifying fit of the measles. The thought of them being just as happy about their second pregnancy as the couple left a warm, happy tingle inside her now emptier tummy.

Roy shed the envelope, pulling out a long letter which bore four different handwritings. He cleared his throat and started reading the letter out loud as he saw Riza's eyes droop again with drowsiness.

"Dear Führer Mustang, dear Colonel Mustang", the careful, curved handwriting had been crossed out and a messy paragraph followed:  
"dear Roy and Riza,  
I mean, come on, we know each other long enough, don't we?  
We'd like to congratulate you two on the impending birth of your second child - dear god, another Mustang! As if fitting Roy's ego into his office wasn't enough!" Roy cocked his eyebrow, ignoring his wife's surpressed chuckle, eying the next paragraph that was written in more simple letters.  
"What we are trying to say: We know that the task of finding a name for your first born has been an easy one - I am sure Brigadier General Hughes would be honored deeply by your choice."  
Roy's throat clogged for a moment, the radiant smile of his deceased best friend flashing before his eyes. He swallowed hard, eyes wandering down to his sleeping son to prevent them from spilling treacherous tears.  
Had Riza realised he hesitated? If she did, she didn't comment on it.

Roy's obsidian eyes searched for the letter again, reading the last distinct handwriting, being written with more pressure so the words were distinguishable on the back.  
"But as for your second child, we'd like to give some opinions on names.  
We had some difficulties to decide on a male name. As you can see-"  
"Jean is the best name ever, right?", the messy handwriting stated, being followed by the hard-pressure letters again, "nope, it's Heymans! Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"  
Roy chuckled lightly, glancing down to Riza; hey eyes were still closed, but the corners of her mouth seemed to be curled slightly more than before, so he continued his reading.  
"Heymans Mustang doesn't have a nice ring to it, and the initials KM work well together, so I suggest naming him Kain" the simple writing was replaced again by the elegant writing from the beginning, "but don't you rather think, 'Vato' would fit nicely? It would punctuate the maleness of your son, as it's meaning is 'man'."

"Well, thankfully we were quickly able to decide on a female name", the pressed letters told, followed by the simple letters, "in fact, we decided to name our favorite at the count of three; each and everyone of us uttered the same name!"  
There was a long space, followed by a single word, in which every letter had been written alternately by each team member:

"Elizabeth."

Roy's eyes found Riza's caramel ones easily - they were open now, again a little more rested and another, new shine sparkling in them. "Elizabeth", she rolled of her tongue softly, closing her eyes again, urging Roy to repeat the name.  
"Elizabeth", he echoed, the low buzz of his tenor vibrating through the room.

He waited a couple of seconds before returning to the letter.  
"We thought this name to be quite fitting and all of us grew attached to it immediately", the elegant handwriting continued, interruped yet again by the messy one.  
"You know, we thought it fit best since the name "Elizabeth" had been decided on in your office and the baby most likely had been -" Roy choked, a slight blush creeping up his cheeks, "most likely had been... conceived in there as well."  
"Excuse me?!", Riza gasped lightly, her pale complexion blushing, finally returning some color into her weary face. "I thought your office was sound-proof!"  
"I thought so, too!", Roy defended himself, staring disbelievingly at his wife. While Riza normally would have _never_ agreed to perform such _activities_ inside of Roy's office, both parents grew sexually frustrated as Maes was a very animated child, constantly demanding their attention and wearing them out. It was the only alone-time they got.

"I asked Havoc and he-", his eyes darted back to the messy handwriting and his eyes narrowed, imagining the sly grin of the blonde captain. "That son of a bitch!", he hissed, ignoring Riza's reproachful glance as she shielded Maes' exposed ear with her free hand, cradling her daughter to her chest. "I should have asked Fuery, he would have been modest enough to tell us the truth." "Or embarassed enough", Riza threw in softly, her eyes drooping again. "Other than Jean or Heymans, he never tried to bet on our sex life. Good boy always warned me."  
"Yes, but only because of your 'I'll end your sex life with one bullet if you don't answer me'-glance. Sweetheart, that doesn't count."  
She sticked her tongue out impishly, relaxing again and stroking the oh-so soft hair her son had inherited from his father.  
"Works either way. Did they write anything else? Please don't tell me they bet on the gender of our baby!"

Roy's eyes searched the letter again, finding the place where he had stopped reading.

"In truth, after deciding on the name, we started calling your child Elizabeth in secret, it just sounded perfect." Thankfully, he swallowed, creating a small pause during his reading so he could check the following sentence; it was something his wife should not be aware of:

_Since we all had a hunch this one's going to be a girl_, the strong, hard letters interrupted the curvy, elegant handwriting, _sadly, we couldn't bet on the outcome of its gender-_ the letters had again been replaced by the messy handwriting that had Roy's vein pop before reading the content, even though it had been crossed out once more, _because they say it's going to be a girl if the woman screams loudly during sex, and good lord, she did - I swear I saw the book shelf shaking - _**good job**_, boss!_

Roy's eye twitched dangerously. While he appreciated the success of his love making and the effects it had on his beloved wife, he _had_ to do something about the noisyness of his subordinates!  
"Roy?", her voice pulled him out of his thoughts, her right hand rubbing sleepily on her eye. "Why have you stopped?"  
"Sorry", he murmured, scanning the content of the letter again.

"We wish the four of you the best and hope that Riza and the little one - whether boy or girl - are going to be healthy and return home safe and sound.  
Your loyal subordinates,

Jean, Vato, Heymans and Kain."

Roy folded the letter and put it back again into its envelope and his coat pocket. He felt Riza's eyes fixed on his jaw and flashed her a smile of his. "What do you think?"  
She smiled, too, letting her head drop a little to nuzzle her daughter's head. "I think it's a great suggestion. I like the sound of 'Elizabeth'."  
"Me too", he admitted, rising from the chair he had pulled so close to the hospital bed, leaning over his now two favourite women, brushing the girl's head with his soft lips. "Elizabeth sounds really pretty."

"Lizzy."  
Roy and Riza jumped slightly, as they heard their son's voice breathe his sister's new nickname softly, still engulfed in sleep. They glanced at each other again, a silent understanding passing between them. They smiled and a comfortable warmth spread through them as Roy's lips embraced his wife's softly in celebration of their grown family.


End file.
